Adding nodes using node discovery

Add compute nodes to your IBM® Spectrum Cluster Foundation Community Edition system automatically by using the node discovery method.

Before you begin

Your nodes must be configured to PXE boot. To configure your node to PXE boot, change the boot order of your node in the BIOS to network boot first.

For adding Lenovo Flex System x nodes using node discovery, you must specify a hardware profile that corresponds to the hardware that you are using and a network profile that uses a BMC network interface.

Note: For a IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation Community Edition Power environment, this method is only supported for PowerNV compute nodes.

Procedure

  1. Select the Resources tab, go to Infrastructure > Nodes and click Add.
  2. Select the provisioning template. From the Provisioning Template menu, you can select the Specify properties... option to choose any profiles. If you are adding Lenovo Flex System x nodes, you must specify a hardware profile that corresponds to the hardware that you are using and a network profile that uses a BMC network interface.
  3. Optionally, you can select a node group.
  4. Specify a node discovery method. Choose to automatically discover nodes by PXE boot by selecting the Auto discovery by PXE boot option. By using the auto discovery method, the management node is configured to respond to PXE requests on one or more provisioning networks.
  5. Specify the location of the new nodes.

    • If your node is not located in a rack unit or a chassis, choose the default Unspecified.

    • If your node is in a rack unit, specify the rack number, server height, and starting unit.

    • If your node is in a chassis, specify the rack number and the chassis number. For Lenovo Flex System x nodes, you must specify an IBM Flex Chassis.

  6. Click Start Listening for the node discovery to start. The Web Portal automatically detects and adds new compute nodes that are physically connected to the same provisioning network.

    Only the nodes that are PXE booted are detected. For nodes to PXE boot, if the nodes are powered off, you must power on the nodes. Otherwise, if the nodes are powered on, you must reboot the nodes.

    You can click Stop Listening at any time. If you stop the node discovery, the node status also stops updating in this window but continues in the background.

  7. Click Close after all the nodes are added.
    Note: It can take several minutes for the nodes to appear in the Web Portal.

Results

The new node downloads an initial ram disk (initrd) and starts a full operating system installation. Node installation on a 100 Mbps network takes less than 5 minutes. After the installation is complete, the node reboots and joins the system.